Of Monsters and Men
by The.Gray.Son.Of.Gotham
Summary: Twelve are chosen. Twelve will save us. Twelve will be our heroes. Truth is, no one wants to be chosen. No one believes we can be saved. We are not heroes, we will die in the failed process. You can beg and try to escape, but you will die. The chosen always die. This year, I was chosen.


_Of Monsters and Men_

_Vera. _

_Only planet of the Vega Galaxy._

_Average temp: 140 Fahrenheit. 60 Celsius_

_Average weather: Sunny every day._

_Orbit: Only planet in the Vega Galaxy. Complete turn every 37 hours. Complete orbit of 526 days. (810.91 earth days.) Thirteen months, Twelve in use. Each months has 62 days._

_On the 525 day of each year, it rains. _

_This is caused by the alignment of the moons, in which there is a single full moon on this day. _

_Most populated known species: Humans. _

_Lifespan: 31 Vera Years (68 Earth years) _

_Most common known diseases: Heart failure. Heat stroke. _

_Second most common known species: Kwaaddoener (Kwade)_

_Lifespan: 51 Vera Years (115 Earth years)_

_Most Common known diseases: n/a_

_Warning: M-_

The rest of the paper was burnt, erased from the world. Leaving the true secret of Vera in the ashes...

Wallace West. Vera month One No.16 Region 2- Lotta *struggle*

Garfield Logan. Vera month Two No.28 Region 7- Gelach *laughter*

Artemis Crock. Vera month Three No.20 Region 1- Palawan *warrior*

Cassie Sandsmark. Vera month Four No.26 Region 3- Galingas *powerful*

Karen Beecher. Vera month Five No.13 Region 10-Volgeling *follower*

Tim Drake. Vera month Six No.19 Region 5- Denker *thinker*

Conner Kent. Vera month Seven No.4 Region 8- Penca *challenger*

Jack Sy Cotic Vera month Eight No.1 Region 4- Geheim *secret*

Barbara Gordon. Vera month Nine. No.23. Region 11- Skrite *hidden*

Megan Morzz. Vera month Ten No.9 Region 6- Zoeker *searcher*

Jaime Reyes. Vera month Eleven No.8 Region 9- Ziekte *disease*

Dick Grayson. Vera month Twelve No.1 Region 12- Isoleren *isolate*

…

Region 1- Palawan

Every night- every day, for the Palawan Region, it was always the same.

Wake up.

Opening my eyes, I grimaced as the sun hit my face through the shudders. I pulled the blanket over my head, Shielding myself from the world. My windows were open, and the sun began to start it's cycle in the sky. Heat sunk into the black quilt, and began to sunburn my skin. Hissing in pain, I threw the quilt off, and paced over to my closet.

Prepare.

Opening the bamboo styled door, I grabbed an insulated long sleeve skin tight desert red turtle neck. Throwing my combat jacket on after that, I slipped on light green insulated skin tight leather pants, and my brown combat boots. Afterwards, I sheathed my knifes and pulled my hair back in a High ponytail, letting my blonde hair fall.

I sat up, and checked the thermometer on the wall next to the window.

138 Degrees. Fahrenheit. (58 Celsius) At least It was cooler than yesterday. Taking the green pen dangling on the side of the thermometer, I marked of the date in the calendar. It was Vera month Three, day 20. My twenty first birthday. Sighing, I stood up and walked out of my simple bedroom, and down the wooden stairs. The metal soles of my shoes echoed throughout the house, not that I minded. Everyone was up anyway. It was rule. If you weren't up at six o'clock every morning, you were sent to the Sliders. I shuddered at the thought. It was horrible. Walking into the kitchen, I opened the cupboards and pulled out the nutrients.

Pulling a blue tab, a small cup inside the bottle revealed four small pills. Each one had been labeled 'bananas', 'oatmeal,' 'strawberries,' or 'milk.'

Eat.

Grabbing a glass, I filled it with water. I walked over the couch and sat down. Pulling out my knife from my sheath, I stared at it.

"Happy Birthday." Looking up, I saw my sister, with her long black hair as messy as ever. Her beady eyes glared at my me, full of sarcasm. I sighed deeply, throwing my knife into the wall to my left.

"Don't remind me," I replied.

"Why so sad?" She asked me, her voice dripping hot mockness.

"You know why."

"Well at least we get off of work today. Another day in those training arenas and I might just kill someone," she stated calmly.

"I don't doubt it. Palawan is trained to kill." Looking away, I felt her hand on my shoulder, and she gave it a light squeeze.

"It's already seven. Just seventeen hours, and it's over. You have a one in a 1.2 million chance of being picked this year. It's not going to happen-" A knock on the door interrupted her words. We both shot our heads towards the sound, and I could have sworn it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. We both gulped loudly, and the same thoughts were probably running through her head as they were through mine. _Its the Sentencers. "_It's- it's probably just Cameron or someone, here to pick us up…" I stood up, and followed my sister to the door. The metal of the doorknob felt like lava in the late winter air, but i brushed it off. Opening it cautiously, I was met with a gruff man- maybe six feet tall. His hair was black, and slightly curled towards the front. He had on a leather skin tight white shirt, with white skin tights jeans. His helmet was in his hand, and his gun was holstered at his dark blue eyes held kindness, but I wasn't fooled. This was not a kind man. This was a Sentencer. He cleared his throat.

"Hello. My name is Clark Kent of the Overheid (government). I was called here for a-" he looked down at his glove, which held a holographic notepad, "Artemis Crock of the Palawan? Correct?" Me and Jade nodded our heads. "Perfect. It is a letter, sent from President Luthor himself. You should be honored." His voice suddenly changed from kindness to a sneer. Jabbing an envelope at me, I took it. He turned to leave down the steps, and we watched him leave.

The second he left, we slammed the door closed and ran the couch. Jumping onto it, Jade squeezed next to me, silently urging me to open the letter. I slid my thumb across the seal, opening it. A million thoughts went flying through me head, and time seemed to slow down. I felt myself pull out the slim piece of paper, and inside my mind I was screaming 'stop! don't do it!'

No matter what I said to myself, I began to unfold the paper, and as I read it, I felt tears stream down my face. Jade hugged me, and I felt her cry into my shoulder. I couldn't move, I couldn't respond. This wasn't happening. This wasn't real. None of this was real. For on the paper was a single word. A simple six letters that made my insides cringe. On that paper, was the word,

CHOSEN.

…

Region 12- Isoleren- nine months later

Every day I wake up, every time I breathe another breath, one thought stays in my mind.

Survive.

I am alone. Isolated. We are the forgotten region. We are never trained, never taught. We are born, and stay in the barracks until our tenth birthday. Then we are released into the Region.

We have the smallest population. Only four hundred Isoleren are left. I am one of the four hundred. We are left in the wilderness, with a small house and weapons. Our people are contagious, we are looked at as the worthless. We were supposed to be murdered at birth, to end the Region, but instead, the government decided to isolate us, and let us try and survive until of age. That is, if we survive to our twentieth birthday. On that day, the Government is sent out to look for us and kill us. If you survive, you are led into civilization. If you kill someone before they are twenty, you are awarded will tools to survive. I am nineteen today. One more year. Maybe I will die today, maybe today will be the last.

Survive.

I hate this life. I want to quit.

Survive.

Maybe I can escape.

Survive.

Every birthday before your twentieth, the Government comes to ask you if you want to be chosen. They give us a choice. They don't care which of us goes to the experiment. No one ever says yes. We would be walking to our deaths. It is almost noon, and the Government has not come.

I sat in a large tree, full of leaves ( the crops and plants and wildlife grow each day every month. We have one season- spring.) and hid myself from view. My knives were ready if any other Isoleren came. I would kill them this time.

Survive.

That was a lie. I never kill. I don't. I can't. I simply stay up high and hide. A rustling from the bushes by the tree was heard, and I perfected my stance and began my aim. A Government worker? A Isoleren? Animals- food? A man in his mid twenties emerged, in a dark gray uniform.

"Richard Grayson of Isoleren? I am aware of your position in the tree. You are nineteen years of age, and, at President Luther's request, we hope you say yes to the choosing." He did not turn to face me, but I knew exactly what was going on.

Did they seriously want me to say yes? Did they honestly want me to shout yes and be sent to a certain death? But- perhaps this could be my escape.

Perhaps this death would be my ticket out of this horrid life.

Survive.

I was tired of surviving.

"Yes."

I was the first Isoleren to ever say yes.

…

Region 0- Government

President Lex Luthor stood in front of the five thousand people in Government.

"As you are aware, each year, one person from each Region is chosen based on performance and lifestyle. Regions 1 through 11 are chosen simply by those topics- however, Region 12 has a choice. No years previously have we had 12 chosen, until now." Cheers erupted from the Government as Luthor paused for emphasis. "They will travel to the other side of Vera were a portal will wait and they will be transported to another world, to see if we can survive and thrive elsewhere. May I present our Twelve soldiers- the struggler, the laughter, the warrior, the powerful, the follower, the thinker, the challenger, the secret, the hidden, the searcher, the disease, and the isolated!" The crowd cheered loudly as the twelve youth came on a screen behind Luthor. "We have chosen these youth strictly because they are the descendants to the humans who put us on this horrid world as our old one could not be stabilized. Wish them luck, for perhaps this year, we will be able to return to a much easier world, we will not be defeated!" Cheers and yells echoed throughout the entire field.

…

**Okay, yes or no to this idea? I thought of it and I kind of just wrote it down quickly. Does this sound interesting, or should I abandon the idea? PLease tell me because I don't want to write something that is crappy and that no one will read. Be honest! If you have ideas or you like the concept, or you don't, review and PM me so I can know! Thanks! I love you all! ~Babs :D**


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